A Turkish Delightful Morning
by ronniekins77
Summary: Peter exacts revenge upon Edmund for stealing Susan's sweets.


Edmund Pevensie loved Turkish delight. He loved it with every fiber of his being! The sticky jelly filling, the white powder that swam across his lips, the sugary sweet taste of it...

It was, in fact, his favorite sweet and so he was none too happy when he woke up one Saturday morning to find that it was missing. Mr. Pevensie had brought home sweets for each of his children the previous night and Edmund had immediately hidden his. And now, blast it all, it was _gone_.

Susan Pevensie, who was the second eldest in the family, woke to her brother stomping around and yelling curses. She attempted to go back to sleep, pulling her pillow around her ears to muffle the sounds coming from down the hall, but eventually gave up. A glance around the bedroom told her that Lucy was already awake.

Susan managed to put on her slippers and dressing gown, despite the fact that she was so tired she could barely open her eyes. "Edmund," she mumbled as she staggered into the bedroom he shared with Peter. Edmund turned glaring eyes upon her as she entered, then ran a hand through his dark hair. Susan frowned at him, noting that he had literally torn the room apart.

"My Turkish delight's gone!" he told her, sinking down onto his bed.

Susan wiped her eyes blearily. "Well," she said, "I suppose you know what it feels like, don't you?" For Edmund had stolen her own sweets the night before, after their parents had retired to bed.

Edmund looked slightly ashamed. "I'm sorry!" he moaned. But then his eyes narrowed. "You didn't take it, did you?"

"No!" snapped Susan. Then, after giving Edmund an exasperated look, she left the room and went downstairs.

It was only when she entered the empty kitchen that it dawned on her that the only noises in the house were coming from Edmund upstairs. She looked around nervously. "Mum? Dad? Lu?"

And so began her walk around their house. It wasn't a large house by any means, but it certainly wasn't small either. It was roomy enough for the six members of her family, and was quite inviting. Susan was puzzled as she entered the family room; the curtains were open, welcoming the light of the early sun, and the radio was playing softly.

Biting her lip, Susan ran to the foot of the stairs. "Edmund!" she yelled. "Edmund!"

Her brother dashed out of his bedroom. "What?" he said irritably.

"Where is everyone?"

"Mum and Dad took Lucy dress shopping," he responded. "I don't know why, she's got enough dresses!"

"Where's Peter?" called Susan, as Edmund turned away.

"Who cares?" was his reply, and he disappeared into his bedroom again, slamming the door.

Susan rolled her eyes. He could be _so_ insufferable at times! However, she did feel a bit sorry for him. Edmund's love of Turkish delight was known by everyone, and he hadn't had any in so long. Susan sighed and decided perhaps she'd help him look for it.

Her foot was on the first step when she felt fingers close around her wrist and pull her away. She let out a shriek of shock and gasped when she saw who it was. "Peter!" she said loudly, but her elder brother held a finger up to his lips. Susan narrowed her eyes, but obediently closed her mouth, as he led her out of the family room and into the den.

When he had shut the door, Susan exclaimed, "What's going on?"

Peter gave her what was quite possibly the largest smile she had ever seen. It stretched all the way to his blue eyes and she couldn't help smiling herself. He dropped to his knees next to Mr. Pevensie's reading chair and reached underneath it. He withdrew a box with a blue ribbon tied round it.

Susan sighed. "Oh, Peter, you _didn't_..."

"In my defense," started Peter, as Susan crossed her arms across her chest, "he stole your sweets last night! I thought it only fair to get back at him, the rotten little git."

"They're _Edmund's_," Susan stated obviously.

He didn't answer, but merely held the box out toward her.

Susan laughed. "I appreciate the gesture, Peter, but I'm not eating Edmund's sweets."

Peter stared at her incredulously. "Why not? Do you know how much effort I put into stealing these?"

Susan blinked. Her brother had gone mad! Just the very idea of Peter planning to _steal_ something was rather out of character for him - he was too good. Then again, she mused, Peter and Edmund were often on the outs and perhaps this was Peter's way of getting even. If it was, he had certainly done a fine job. Edmund had moved his search into the family room and could be heard saying things that he definitely would not have said had their parents been there.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," she told Peter, shaking her head reprovingly, but she couldn't help the small smile that curled the corners of her lips.

"What?" said Peter innocently. "It's not as if I came up with this idea."

"Oh, really?" Susan inquired, folding her arms across her chest, "And who did?"

Susan rather felt like she did when she was scolding Edmund and Lucy. Only, instead of having Peter scolding alongside her, it was _he_ that she was scolding. It was an interesting shift in dynamics, she had to admit.

"Well?" she prompted. "Who thought up the plot to steal Edmund's Turkish delight?"

"Lucy," Peter replied, smirking. "She thought Ed was horrible for eating all your sweets. I happen to agree."

Susan bit her lip to keep from laughing. She wasn't supposed to encourage this type of behavior among her siblings. She still couldn't believe that _Peter_ was encouraging it, least of all participating in it! They were supposed to be role models; Ed and Lu were supposed to look up to them!

Of course, Susan mused, if their mother and father could see she and Peter hiding in the den with a stolen box of Turkish delight, they would certainly not want the younger two to look up to them at all.

But still, she nevertheless found the whole situation to be amusing. Just once glance at Peter told her that he was just as amused as she was. Indeed, he seemed to enjoy being something else than the older, respectable, _good_ brother.

"Have you eaten any?" she asked him.

Peter set the box down on the desk and shook his head. "I don't care for Turkish delight that much," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

She opened her mouth to respond when they heard a thundering crash. They both jumped - exchanged a look, wondering whether their brother was alright - and then heard a yell, "_OWWW! MY TOE!_"

Peter burst into laughter and Susan rushed over to him, clamping one of her hands over his mouth to stifle the noise he was making. Edmund was in the next room and if he heard them laughing, he would surely come to investigate. Peter, however, could not stop and Susan made a face as his breath tickled her fingers.

"Shh!" she said sternly. And, because laughter is often contagious, she found herself giggling with him. Edmund continued to yell obscenities and it was so hilarious that in order to stop herself from laughing loudly Susan buried her face in the fabric of Peter's stiff collared shirt and suspenders. His chest heaved as he continued laughing and she looked up at his flushed cheeks, grinning. "Shh!" she repeated, though it was really no good. They were both beyond reason at this point.

When Edmund had stopped yelling and gone back upstairs, their laughter quieted. Susan pulled away from Peter and looked bemusedly at the box of Turkish delight on the desk. "We're going to have to give them back to him, you know," she said.

Peter walked around the other side of the desk, took a piece of Turkish delight, and popped it into his mouth. "Okay, we can give them back now," he said.

"Peter!" she said, smacking him unceremoniously on the shoulder. "Ow!" he responded, though she could tell that she hadn't really hurt him. "You're impossible!" she said, half tempted to start laughing again as she tied the ribbon around the box of sweets.

"But you didn't even eat one yet," Peter pointed out, "and after all, they were stolen on your behalf."

"I already told you," Susan reminded him, "I'm not eating Edmund's sweets."

Peter took the box from her as she held it out. "Killjoy," he muttered, but he was teasing. He knew she was right.

Susan opened the door and gestured for Peter to walk out first. She watched him go, and shook her head when he called out, "Edmund! I found them!"

Edmund practically flew down the stairs and snatched the box from Peter's hands, looking like a child who had just been given a puppy. Without even thanking Peter, he dashed out of sight, tearing at the ribbon.

Peter turned around and faced Susan, who was still standing in the doorway of the den. "Ungrateful little toad," Peter complained. "I should have just kept them."

He sank into an armchair, and was silent for a moment. Then he looked at her and noted, "You're still in your bed clothes."

"I suppose I am," she said, feeling quite silly. "I think I'll go change."

Peter shrugged. Susan moved over to where he sat and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You seem upset."

"Ed's so foul," he grumbled.

Susan gave a short sigh. "Well, there's always his reaction for when he finds out you've _taken_ one piece of his Turkish delight to look forward to."

Peter smirked. "Two." Susan raised an eyebrow and Peter opened his right hand. Sure enough, in it was a piece of Turkish delight. "I took two pieces. This one's for you," he explained.

Susan opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "Oh, just eat it and stop arguing with me!"

"Fine," said Susan, a bit snappishly. She took the Turkish delight from him and put it into her mouth. The look in Peter's eyes was triumphant. "You're _impossible_," she repeated for the second time that morning. _Nearly just as bad as Edmund_, she added in her head, but didn't dare say that to Peter.

"Ah, but you still love me," he said.

"WHO ATE MY TURKISH DELIGHT?"

Edmund began to run down the stairs.

"Oh, Su!" exclaimed Peter, rushing over to her. He started to rub his fingers across her lips and before Susan could ask him what on earth he was doing, he told her in a rush, "You have some white powder on your lips!"

Edmund reached the room just as they jumped apart. "DID YOU TWO EAT MY TURKISH DELIGHT?"

Normally, Peter and Susan would have been forthcoming. The look on their brother's face, however, changed their minds rather quickly. _So much for being role models_, Susan thought as they fixed confused expressions onto their faces.

"I don't know what he is talking about, Su," said Peter. "And Ed, I'd love to help you out, but I'm afraid I have to study!"

He kissed Susan on the forehead and then raced out of the room, leaving her alone with Edmund. "What a dreadful thing, someone eating your sweets!" she stammered, her cheeks reddening. "But, um, I must get out of these pajamas!"

She kissed Edmund's cheek, not unlike the way Peter had just kissed her, and dashed up the stairs.

It took her quite a long time to get dressed.


End file.
